


Moment of Weakness

by flying_grayson_girl



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Anxiety, Drabble, F/M, depressed hawke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-07 22:43:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4280682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flying_grayson_girl/pseuds/flying_grayson_girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fenris looks up to Hawke for several reasons, one of the biggest being the fact that she's the strongest person her knows. But Fenris comes to realize that, sometimes, everyone has a weak moment.<br/>The times Fenris found Hawke at her weakest and the time he became her shoulder to lean on.<br/>Series of drabbles surrounding Hawke and Fenris, focusing on how Fenris gradually evolved from relying on Hawke, to him becoming her rock.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moment of Weakness

It’s become more and more common lately, Fenris thinks as he walks into the Hawke Estate and finds no sign of the woman he’s come to speak with. Her…he doesn’t know what to call them. How does he explain the way that this woman – a person usually so charismatic, smiling so often and throwing jokes here and there nearly as much as she spoke – receded in on herself. Disappeared for days inside her estate, cutting all contact with anyone she knew until she suddenly and almost magically reappeared at his door, telling him to get ready for a mission of some kind.

She would smile as if nothing happened, ignoring everyone’s words of worry one day before breaking down the next. It was something Fenris and the others had come to expect, as natural as Varric’s banter, Ander’s calls for Justice, and Merrill’s penchant for worrying over every elf in her alienage.

Fenris hadn’t witnessed it early on; he’d only heard of it through whispers between Varric and her little brother, usually during their time spent drinking in the Hanged Man. The way Carver spoke, lacking sympathy for his sister, hadn’t let on very much. But the first time he witnessed it…he hadn’t been very close with her, but it had still struck a chord that wasn’t easily silenced.

It was after they’d returned to Kirkwall, days and weeks after they’d crawled out of the Deep Roads and she’d had no way to bury her brother beside piling rocks atop his body as a marker. He’d heard from Varric about the way Hawke’s mother had pulled away from her daughter. Fenris had understood at the time, if only a little. But the day he arrived to the estate – newly bought and not a spot of dirt – to return something, he was bombarded with the sight of a woman at her weakest.

The moment he’d entered, he’d realized that something was off. Bodahn and Sandal had moved in, along with her mother. Two of the three were standing in the foyer, whispering among themselves before hushing themselves at his entrance. Leandra ignored him, wandering off and into the room that Fenris guessed was her bedroom. Bodahn was the one who gave him a sympathetic glance before tottering over with a frown. “You must be here to see serah Hawke. Quite sorry to disappoint, but I don’t think the lady of the house will be speaking too much of anyone today. She’s…ah, she’s disposed, as of late.”

Fenris almost left, but the item in his pocket was a weight he wanted rid of. So instead, he shrugged. “It’ll only take a moment. I found something of hers and wished to return it. Is she in the library or –“

“She’s actually in her rooms,” Bodahn replied, reluctantly motioning for him to follow up the stairs and towards the back, where a door stood solemnly, lanterns unlit and leaving the space darker than the rest of the house. “Lady…Lady Leandra says that this isn’t the first time it’s happened and to not take it personally if she doesn’t speak. Says it just happens, sometimes.”

Fenris doesn’t know what to expect, but it’s not the sight he finds when Bodahn finally opens the door. The room is large and looks as if it’s meant to seem warm, but with a dead fireplace the place seems cold despite the heatwave that’s going on outside in Kirkwall. And the worst part of it is he bundle curled up on the bed, blankets covering everything but the top of her orange head.

What Fenris sees of Hawke is her hair, usually tame and controlled, is a mess of curls and tangles. The blankets barely make it past her eyes, which stare blankly at the wall. She hardly blinks. Hardly stirs. He begins to wonder if she’s even fully conscious, until he hears a tiny voice. “Bodahn?”

“Sorry miss, but there’s a visitor. Says he wishes to return something and that he’ll just take a moment of your time,” Bodahn tells her, backing out of the room slowly and making a point of leaving the door open behind him. A sign he was watching, although Fenris never would have dared to try anything to the person who had fought for him.

“Fenris?” She murmured, her usually strong and resilient voice reduced to something…tiny. Fragile. It was a startling change, he remembered thinking. Scary. That someone so powerful could seem so _weak_.

“I just…I found this necklace at the mansion and I remembered you wearing it before you…before you helped. The clasp was broke so I decided to fix it before I returned it,” He murmured, waiting for some kind of reply and receiving none. “Well then…I have some business to deal with, so I’ll be getting out of your hair.”

Fenris had turned to leave, satisfied with placing the necklace on her bedside table, but stopped at the sound of her voice. “Thank you, Fenris.”

“You’re welcome,” He replies, exiting with a reluctant smile on his lips before he stifles it, avoiding any kind of comments from the dwarf.

It wasn’t until a few days later that Fenris was faced with Hawke again. This time, another transformation had taken place, returning Hawke to the woman Fenris remembered. But hanging at her chest was the amber colored stone he had returned to her. It matched the color of the stone set in her staff, and glowed with the same light whenever she summoned a spell.

Before they left for their task, Fenris was walking beside Isabela when Hawke slowed nearly to a stop, motioning for Merrill to walk on ahead. When Fenris and Isabela finally reached her, she seemed to be struggling to find words, although she tried her best to look controlled as he stopped in front of her. A question on his lips, she stopped him with a hand extended to shake. “I wanted to say thank you properly for finding and fixing my necklace. It’s…it’s from before we left Lothering, so it’s important. If I would’ve lost it –“

“Princess would have lost her shit,” Isabela jokingly muttered, elbowing Fenris with a grin. “You did good and saved the day, hero boy. Does he get a kiss for his efforts, Hawke?”

Hawke scoffed, idle scuffling gone and replaced by her usual confidence. “Then where’s all the kisses I missed out on?” She retorted. “I’m sure there’s quite a few on back order by now.”

“Fine, step right up princess and I’ll make it up to you,” Isabela purred in response, blowing a kiss in Hawke direction as they began walking again. “Might even add some sugar, pretty girl,” she murmured, hanging off of the red head’s arm and curling her head into the crook of her neck.

“I’ll make it up to you later, Fenris!” Hawke called behind her, oblivious to the smile on Fenris’s lips as he watched the two women walk away, eyes glued to her.

“Okay Hawke. I’ll be waiting for it,” He murmured to himself, chuckling as he finally walked to catch up.


End file.
